Pages

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Gen Zen

The best results often happen when you aren’t even trying....

There is no other way to describe it. It’s the Zen of genealogy.

But I should back up and explain. During my one year plus of self-imposed exile from active genealogy research, I have become pathetic. My research has become pathetic, not to mention almost nonexistent.

My research muscles are flabby. And I have come to passively accept the existence of my many brick walls. Not brick walls many generations back, but early brick walls, many at the great-great-grandparent level and even one at the great-grandparent level.

But still, I flit around aimlessly some evenings. I check out blogs on Feedly. A couple of nights ago I checked my genealogy mail, found a Family Search newsletter that links to new databases on family Search. I saw some databases for Vermont, and thought about checking out the Floyds in these records. Hey, look at all the hits I got.

But I needed to have a better idea of specific locations in Vermont to search. I decided to get that list of the names of the siblings of my great-great grandfather George Floyd, one of those brick walls that I just accept as a permanent part of my family history landscape. I thought I’d try to find a sibling who stayed in Vermont, and start with those locations.

So I looked around in Ancestry, starting with George Floyd’s two sisters. No luck with Harriet - she ended up in Wisconsin. But for Rachel, who married a Wilkins, I had better luck. Searching under both Rachel Floyd and Rachel Wilkins, I turned up a bunch of documents in the Vermont Vital Records database: a record of Rachel’s marriage to Nehemiah Wilkins, death records for a couple of young children, and ... a death record for Rachel.

Bingo.

I was not looking for this. But I found it, or more accurately, I found them: Rachel’s parents. My great-great grandfather George’s parents: William Floyd and Betsey Wilson. And even a place of birth for Rachel: Monkton (there’s the location!).

[I must also give a huge amount of credit in this endeavor to two very generous Floyd researchers, Rich and Randy, who a couple of years ago got in touch with me and provided some wonderful old Floyd family letters, including that list of George Floyd’s siblings. Those materials and specifically that list made this discovery possible.]

I also had a brick wall come tumbling down based on finally finding a gg-aunt's death record, which listed her father's place of birth (Townsend, Massachusetts). It solved everything almost immediately. Those are great moments! !! Congrats to you!

Diane, thank you - what would we do without the siblings? My direct-line relatives have such a talent for either not having death records or having death records without any of the important information.

I also had a brick wall come tumbling down based on finally finding a gg-aunt's death record, which listed her father's place of birth (Townsend, Massachusetts). It solved everything almost immediately. Those are great moments! !! Congrats to you!

Barbara - Thank you for your good wishes - we actually have another family vacation planned in Greenville (the whole family loves the place) - and I will be doing some research there and nearby Anderson.

LOL. Come with me, Greta. Let that feeling of peace and relaxation wash over you. (Hey, if I wasn't all Zen-ny those Polish name misspellings would drive me up the proverbial brick wall.)

Seriously, I truly believe there are no brick walls in genealogy, only a lack of time and/or looking in the wrong place. Everything is there. We just need to be in the right place to find it. Sometimes a break is good. Release, and let the genealogy happen, Greta. (There's that Zen thing again.)

Followers

About Me

After spending my formative years paying no heed to all the family stories, I got hooked on genealogy later in life and am now trying to catch up. My husband and I had long ago developed an interest in graveyards and have enjoyed visiting them while on vacation. I have started two Graveyard Rabbit blogs as a way, in addition to my participation in Findagrave, to help make information to other people who are researching their family history.
If you would like to get in touch with me, simply click on the link below entitled "View My Complete Profile"; this will take you to my Profile page, where you can click on the "Email" link under Contact (right below my profile picture, aka my cat R.B. trying to catch a balloon).